*Privacy Policy: When you subscribe to Vegetarians in Paradise (vegetarian e-zine) your email address will not be sold or rented, and will only be used to let you know in an email what's new in our monthy web magazine.

The nostalgic strains of the classic Christmas song, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . . " by the late Mel Torme tug gently at the lingering memories of our parents and grandparents who still recall those holiday seasons when street vendors could be heard hawking roasted chestnuts along the sidewalks of New York, Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities in the early 1900s. For as little as five cents people could buy a bag of hot chestnuts roasted over a charcoal fire to enjoy as a warming snack while they shopped or strolled along the avenues. Europeans, too, experienced the pleasant, creamy sweetness of hot roasted chestnuts purchased from street sellers throughout the fall and winter months.